A memorial dedicated to slain Hattiesburg police officers Benjamin J. Deen and Liquori Tate was unveiled May 9, 2018, the third anniversary of the officers' shooting deaths. The memorial is located at 514 East Fourth St., near the site where the men were shot.
Lici Beveridge and Susan Broadbridge

One of nine people charged in the fatal shootings of two Hattiesburg police officers in 2015 is now facing a first-degree murder charge in the death of her boyfriend.

Hattiesburg police arrested Anquanette Alexander, 22, of Hattiesburg in connection to the shooting death Sunday of 31-year-old Greg Hawthorne in the 900 block of Cypress Avenue.

Nikarra Duncan(Photo: Courtesy of HPD)

Also charged in the homicide was Nikarra Duncan, 41, of Hattiesburg, who is accused of obstruction of justice.

Alexander and Duncan were booked into Forrest County Jail.

Alexander’s bond was set at $250,000. The state had requested a $1 million bond. Duncan’s bond was set at $18,000, but bond on a previous charge was revoked.

Municipal Judge Wes Curry said Alexander may have a hold from the Mississippi Department of Corrections for violating the terms of her probation on the conviction in the police officers' shooting deaths.

On Sunday, police responded around 2:30 a.m. to a report of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found Hawthorne dead inside his home.

Hawthorne’s death was ruled a homicide after preliminary autopsy results.

Hattiesburg Police Department spokesman Ryan Moore said the shooting was domestic-related. Alexander was the victim's girlfriend.

Alexander pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2017 in the shooting deaths of Hattiesburg police officers Benjamin J. Deen and Liquori Tate, who were shot during a traffic stop on Fourth Street near Bouie Street.

Her sentence was deferred for five years, and the crime would have been hidden from her criminal record if she were not involved in any other felonies during that time.

She and co-defendant Douglas McPhail admitted to conspiring to hide or dispose of physical evidence from the crime scene.

Alexander also was charged with hindering prosecution in the officers’ deaths, but that charge was passed to the inactive files.